Preparing For The Worst - Chapter 1
The weekend had been pleasant, and Harry was grateful for the company of Ron and Hermione, as well as his fellow Gryffindors, but the time had flown by and now he was alone again. Willard Crump would be arriving soon to be testing Harry for the ability to assume an animal form. Harry didn't know whether he wanted the ability or not. It promised to be useful at some point in the future, but becoming animagi involved years of study better suited to someone like Hermione.
Of course, being able to turn into a dragon could work to his advantage in any number of situations, not that any such transformation was possible. He recalled vaguely Professor McGonagall mentioning in his first year transfiguration class that an animal form rarely exceeded the animagus' human weight. There were exceptions, James Potter and Sirius Black among them, who could assume the form of a stag and dog, respectively. James' stag must have outweighed his human form three to one, and Sirius, while smaller, was still an enormous mut that could have nearly passed for a small pony.
What if he wasted a year or two only to discover that he turned into a garden snake or perhaps a mouse? Harry shrugged the matter aside in favor of groaning over the upcoming self-defense course. It involved a good deal more physical exertion than he was accustommed to, and was painful as an added bonus, no matter how much enchanted padding the gym floor sported. The aurors all seemed real big on this particular aspect of combat, many using their free time to spar with each other or an unoccupied instructor.
Harry had no illusions about his own skill in hand to hand combat, as the instructors called the torture sessions. He was small for his age and not particularly strong or well coordinated. It was one thing to fly a broomstick, where quick reflexes and instinct played as much a part as anything learned, but quite another to fight a man twice your size and considerably more skilled. Harry realized he was complaining again, even if it was only in his head, and berated himself for thinking only of himself.
People had died to protect him, his parents namely, and the least he could do was try to learn how to keep himself alive.
****
It was a much dishevelled Harry who limped into his small room. He'd twisted his ankle badly while being thrown to the mats for approximately the fiftieth time, but had played down the injury in favor of not being forced into a visit with Madam Pomfrey, Madam Pomfrey's well meaning, but completely overbearing older sister. He could imagine the fit she would throw, probably ending in a week of bedrest and a pound of chocolate!
Harry was suprised to find a middle-aged wizard waiting in his room. He'd completely forgotten about Crump's imminent arrival, and now he would have to act like his swelling ankle wasn't screaming at him for being to chicken to face the infirmary. Willard Crump was a pale man with shoulder length brown hair that was receding badly. His face was buried in a book he must have brought with him, and he was obviously very engrossed in its contents if he hadn't heard Harry's less than quiet arrival.
A green-trimmed black cloak hung from a peg in the wall and Harry couldn't quite keep himself from staring at the black robes the wizard wore. They were covered in green pokedots of verying size. It wouldn't do to laugh at the man, not yet anyway. Harry cleared his throat more loudly than strictly necessary, and the wizard sitting on the edge of his bed nearly jumped out of his robes in shock. The book flew into the air and Crump had his wand half drawn before he actually caught sight of Harry. He relaxed, letting his wand fall back into his pocket, just in time to be hit on the head by his now falling book.
The older wizard flushed slightly, gathering up his book and slipping it into one of the volumous pockets of his robe. He coughed self- consciously, and rose, extending his hand to Harry in greeting. [Hello, Harry, pleasure to meet you,[ he said as Harry shook his proferred hand. [I'm afraid I can get slightly wrapped up in my reading from time to time. Always carry a good book, you know, just to keep busy.[
Harry was at a momentary loss for words, but after a few moments of silence said,[Hi, uh, don't worry, you kinda startled me too. I'd forgotten about our appointment.[
Crump shrugged good naturedly. [I arrived early. I'm still not really due for another hour or so. This has just got me a bit excited, finding another potential animagus. The gift is so rare, though not so rare as some, that we at the Ministry try to bring it out in any wizard or witch we can find. It came as quite a shock when we learned that your father had become animagi while still in school, without any experienced instructors.[
Harry nodded along while slowly making his way over to his bed. He sighed in relief as weight was taken off of his injured foot. Crump continued to talk.
[Only eight known animagi exist in Europe. I expect there are no more than a hundred spread across the whole globe, registered or not. Some say the talent for it is dying out, much like parseltongue and wandless apparation. If you ask me, we just aren't finding those with the potential early enough, but no one bothers to ask me, if you get my drift, so...[ he let the words trail off, seeming to notice Harry's slightly glazed expression, at last.
[Yes, well, the testing is really quite simple. Only another animagus can perform the spell, of course, at least as far as I know.[ Crump pulled his wand from his pocket, then followed it with an enormous book that simply shouldn't have been able to fit into such a small space. If Harry wasn't mistaken, the text was longer than little Professor Flitwhick, the charms teacher at Hogwarts, was tall.
He heaved the book down next to Harry, causing the bed to sag greatly, creaking under the combined weight of the book and Harry. [Just a moment. Revealioso![ the wizard muttered strongly, pointing his wand at Harry. Nothing happened that Harry could see or feel, but Crump seemed satisfied with his spell. [Just take your time, now, young Harry. Flip through that book and focus on each animal as you do so. I'll do the rest of the work.[
Harry had been expecting something more unpleasant. Something involving needles and blood, and inevitably Madam Pomfrey. If all he had to do was look through a book for a little while, he'd do it and not complain. A little while turned out to several hours. Each collosal page was filled with dozens of magically animated animals. Every imaginable mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, and sea creature was contained within its pages, and when he finally turned the last page, his eyes gritty and aching, Harry didn't think he would have so greatly minded needles and Madam Pomfrey.
Harry looked up to see Willard Crump staring sadly at the book. Harry was about to say something comforting to the disappointed wizard when Crump picked up the slab of a book and stuffed it into his pocket. He pulled a much smaller volume from that same pocket. Smaller yes, normal sized, no. Only two feet on a side, this one didn't look nearly as daunting.
[Don't be disappointed,[ Crump sighed. [The odds were never in your favor, I fear. Well, just for the sake of thoroughness, take a look through this one. It's an index of known magical creatures. There have only been two recorded cases of animagi forms possessing innate magical abilities, maybe you'll be the third.[ From Crump's tone, Harry doubted this tome would yield anything more than the first one had. Still, this had gotten him out of the day's remaining classes, so he might as well see it through to the end.
****
Harry was cringing away from the sight of a coiled basilisk and hurriedly turning the page when Crump let out a whoop of joy and leapt from his chair. The wizard did a little dance that made him look even more ridiculous in his green spotted black robes. [We found it, boy?[ He crowed triumphantly. [What creatures are on that last page?[
Harry all of a sudden felt as though he had been doused with ice water. It felt like a lead weight had been dropped on his chest and he was having great trouble drawing breath. There had to be a mistake, some fault in Crump's spell. Harry could hear his blood pounding in his ears, throbbing in his temples. A basilisk! Maybe Crump had really detected the affinity with the barking mole. Harry prayed for that with every fiber of his being while his numb hand turned the page back without his direction.
Crump was standing over him now, and the whoop of success at the discovery of another animagi died on his lips when he saw what rested on the page. The snake was to scale with all the other creatures in the book, and thus had its own page, where most of the others were squeezed in with several others. As Crump watched, the basilisk shifted its massive body, revealing the half crushed skeleton of what was obviously a human resting beneath it.
Crump's, [Oh shit,] summed up what Harry was feeling rather well.
****
Courtesy of a powerful sleeping draught, Harry was more or less in a coma. Madam Pomfrey thought it best for now, until someone could figure out how to talk to the boy and deal with any shock he may be experiencing. Willard Crump was pacing the infirmary nervously when Albus Dumbledore, accompanied by Minerva McGonagall swept into the room. They were followed closely by Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, and Lenora Garland, a skilled witch who also had the ability to assume the form of a rabbit at will. Crump had seen Lenora in her animal form more than once, and he had yet to see a natural rabbit that was even half the size of Lenora.
[I fail to see what all the fuss is about,[ Dumbledore said after a quick visual examination of Harry's sleeping form. He patted Harry's limp hand affectionately and turned back to face the others.
[Fuss?![ the Minister all but sputtered. [For heaven's sake, man, a basilisk! What kind of form is that?! Do you have any idea how people will react to that type of information?[ Fudge was on his way to going red in the face.
Dumbledore met the other man's wild gaze calmly. [A basilisk is a very powerful, immensely magical creature able to ignore or shrug off most forms of magic. It also has a deadly stare and a poisonous bite that only the tears of a phoenix can fully counteract. All in all, if Harry eventually learns to assume the form of a fully mature basilisk, I for one will sleep much better at night knowing he has one more weapon with which to defend himself.[
[If standard size constraints remain true to form, Potter will be nothing more than a large snake,[ Professor McGonagall stated firmly. [Even when Harry finishes puberty and is fully grown, he won't be a large man. A mature basilisk would outweigh Harry by several dozen times, and only when the creature is fully mature does it manifest any powers whatsoever.[ Dumbledore smiled at McGonagall in appreciation.
[All valid points,[ Fudge snapped,[but think of the press...[
****
It took a stern talking to by Dumbledore and a visit from Sirius to convince Harry that it was in his own best interests to go ahead with Crump and attempt to learn to become a basilisk. Harry had pretty much decided that Destiny didn't particularly like him and that Fate positively despised him. Days passed by in a blur. So what if he could now apparate with ease or produce a Stunning spell so powerful that it was now lethal? What good was all of this if his friends all ended up thinking of him as a monster? It had been bad enough after Rita Skeeter had published her article the previous summer. That had only made him look insane.
People had believed her, amazingly, and many had treated Harry like a rabid animal after that, trying to keep their distance in the event that he went crazy and turned them all into mice. Harry couldn't even imagine how people would treat him if they ever found out that he may eventually be able to turn into a basilisk. He couldn't even picture how Ron or Hermione would react, and they were his best friends.
Crump had gotten over the initial shock of Harry's potential form and was going about teaching his pupil the ins and outs of animagi transformation. He'd demonstrated his own transformation into a goat a number of times, but insisted that Harry was so far away from even beginning to actually change that demonstrations were largely pointless.
Advanced transfiguration wouldn't normally be taught until Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts. Crump had accellerated the curricullum, partially anyway. Daily, Harry practiced changing small, simple objects into snakes of as large a size as he could manage. He supposed it was to help him reach a larger size, possibly even a fully grown form, where he could use the powers of a basilisk.
****
[Some wizards like to think of this as Dark magic,[ an auror named Bob said,[because it involves the use of blood. Some wizards can barely buckle their own boots, though, so I don't pay much attention to foolish talk. You've got your wands?[
Harry nodded, looking down at his old wand and the new one Mr. Olliavandre had sent. The newer one wouldn't respond quite as well as Harry's old one, not until the old one was destroyed, but the wizard who would assist him in the upcoming ritual insisted that he have two.
[Good. Now, Mr. Potter, let me explain why you bought a new wand and had Madam Pomfrey drain a pint of your blood.[ Bob rolled up the baggy sleeve of his burgundy robe and gestured to the leather sheath that housed to wands. He drew one of them and negligently threw it across the room. Harry turned to follow its course, but stopped when he saw the wand fly back past him and into Bob's hand. [Old auror trick. Mighty hard to disarm a fellow if his wand keeps coming back to him, don't you think?[ He grinned and Harry couldn't help but grin back.
[Okay, that's the first facet of the charm, here's the other.[ Bob laid the wand on the top of his cleared desk. [Go on, pick it up.[
Harry followed the wizard's command and reached over to retrieve the wand. An inch from his finger tips, red sparks shot from the wand and connected with Harry's hand. He yelped, cradling his tingling hand.
[Sorry about that. Weak as I could make it. If you don't wish someone to touch your wand, you can command it to release up to a full powered Stunning spell into them. The choice is yours. Do you wish to go through with the ritual?[
[Yeah, I guess,[ Harry answered. With his affirmation, Bob waved his wand and the window went dark, plunging the room into almost total darkness relieved only by the glow eminating from a large glass bottle containing a heavily enchanted pint of Harry's blood.
****
Author's Notes - This chapter is a little short. Uh, I'm kinda skipping forward in chunks for now, and will probably continue to do so for a while if I continue this. About Harry being an animagi, I didn't know that there were so many HP fics where he ends up as one. I'd only read a few HP fics when I started this and since I'm not going to change my plans because of other fics, I stuck with this. I just want to clear some stuff up real quick about Harry in this fic. In the last few days I've read too many fics where Harry all of a sudden gains phenomenal powers and knowledge or becomes an animagi in about ten minutes or has a total change in character without any explanation. I'm going to try to avoid that in this fic. Harry is going to be a powerful wizard, very powerful actually, but he's still inexperienced and not really able to throw his weight around magically all that much. One question, well two really. I'm not at all familiar with the HP fandom, so it came as a shock to me when I saw so many yaoi Harry/Draco and Snape/Harry/whoever pairings, as well as the Draco/Ginny and Draco/Hermione pairings. How in hell does anyone manage to come up with those? I just don't see it. In Ranma it's conceivable that other characters can be matched up with each other despite canon. They all have at least a few redeeming qualities, even if most of them do suffer from at least one dangerous mental condition. But Snape and Draco? You girls are smoking some serious shit. Okay, now I'm going to hide so that hordes of furious fangirls don't murder me.
The weekend had been pleasant, and Harry was grateful for the company of Ron and Hermione, as well as his fellow Gryffindors, but the time had flown by and now he was alone again. Willard Crump would be arriving soon to be testing Harry for the ability to assume an animal form. Harry didn't know whether he wanted the ability or not. It promised to be useful at some point in the future, but becoming animagi involved years of study better suited to someone like Hermione.
Of course, being able to turn into a dragon could work to his advantage in any number of situations, not that any such transformation was possible. He recalled vaguely Professor McGonagall mentioning in his first year transfiguration class that an animal form rarely exceeded the animagus' human weight. There were exceptions, James Potter and Sirius Black among them, who could assume the form of a stag and dog, respectively. James' stag must have outweighed his human form three to one, and Sirius, while smaller, was still an enormous mut that could have nearly passed for a small pony.
What if he wasted a year or two only to discover that he turned into a garden snake or perhaps a mouse? Harry shrugged the matter aside in favor of groaning over the upcoming self-defense course. It involved a good deal more physical exertion than he was accustommed to, and was painful as an added bonus, no matter how much enchanted padding the gym floor sported. The aurors all seemed real big on this particular aspect of combat, many using their free time to spar with each other or an unoccupied instructor.
Harry had no illusions about his own skill in hand to hand combat, as the instructors called the torture sessions. He was small for his age and not particularly strong or well coordinated. It was one thing to fly a broomstick, where quick reflexes and instinct played as much a part as anything learned, but quite another to fight a man twice your size and considerably more skilled. Harry realized he was complaining again, even if it was only in his head, and berated himself for thinking only of himself.
People had died to protect him, his parents namely, and the least he could do was try to learn how to keep himself alive.
****
It was a much dishevelled Harry who limped into his small room. He'd twisted his ankle badly while being thrown to the mats for approximately the fiftieth time, but had played down the injury in favor of not being forced into a visit with Madam Pomfrey, Madam Pomfrey's well meaning, but completely overbearing older sister. He could imagine the fit she would throw, probably ending in a week of bedrest and a pound of chocolate!
Harry was suprised to find a middle-aged wizard waiting in his room. He'd completely forgotten about Crump's imminent arrival, and now he would have to act like his swelling ankle wasn't screaming at him for being to chicken to face the infirmary. Willard Crump was a pale man with shoulder length brown hair that was receding badly. His face was buried in a book he must have brought with him, and he was obviously very engrossed in its contents if he hadn't heard Harry's less than quiet arrival.
A green-trimmed black cloak hung from a peg in the wall and Harry couldn't quite keep himself from staring at the black robes the wizard wore. They were covered in green pokedots of verying size. It wouldn't do to laugh at the man, not yet anyway. Harry cleared his throat more loudly than strictly necessary, and the wizard sitting on the edge of his bed nearly jumped out of his robes in shock. The book flew into the air and Crump had his wand half drawn before he actually caught sight of Harry. He relaxed, letting his wand fall back into his pocket, just in time to be hit on the head by his now falling book.
The older wizard flushed slightly, gathering up his book and slipping it into one of the volumous pockets of his robe. He coughed self- consciously, and rose, extending his hand to Harry in greeting. [Hello, Harry, pleasure to meet you,[ he said as Harry shook his proferred hand. [I'm afraid I can get slightly wrapped up in my reading from time to time. Always carry a good book, you know, just to keep busy.[
Harry was at a momentary loss for words, but after a few moments of silence said,[Hi, uh, don't worry, you kinda startled me too. I'd forgotten about our appointment.[
Crump shrugged good naturedly. [I arrived early. I'm still not really due for another hour or so. This has just got me a bit excited, finding another potential animagus. The gift is so rare, though not so rare as some, that we at the Ministry try to bring it out in any wizard or witch we can find. It came as quite a shock when we learned that your father had become animagi while still in school, without any experienced instructors.[
Harry nodded along while slowly making his way over to his bed. He sighed in relief as weight was taken off of his injured foot. Crump continued to talk.
[Only eight known animagi exist in Europe. I expect there are no more than a hundred spread across the whole globe, registered or not. Some say the talent for it is dying out, much like parseltongue and wandless apparation. If you ask me, we just aren't finding those with the potential early enough, but no one bothers to ask me, if you get my drift, so...[ he let the words trail off, seeming to notice Harry's slightly glazed expression, at last.
[Yes, well, the testing is really quite simple. Only another animagus can perform the spell, of course, at least as far as I know.[ Crump pulled his wand from his pocket, then followed it with an enormous book that simply shouldn't have been able to fit into such a small space. If Harry wasn't mistaken, the text was longer than little Professor Flitwhick, the charms teacher at Hogwarts, was tall.
He heaved the book down next to Harry, causing the bed to sag greatly, creaking under the combined weight of the book and Harry. [Just a moment. Revealioso![ the wizard muttered strongly, pointing his wand at Harry. Nothing happened that Harry could see or feel, but Crump seemed satisfied with his spell. [Just take your time, now, young Harry. Flip through that book and focus on each animal as you do so. I'll do the rest of the work.[
Harry had been expecting something more unpleasant. Something involving needles and blood, and inevitably Madam Pomfrey. If all he had to do was look through a book for a little while, he'd do it and not complain. A little while turned out to several hours. Each collosal page was filled with dozens of magically animated animals. Every imaginable mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, and sea creature was contained within its pages, and when he finally turned the last page, his eyes gritty and aching, Harry didn't think he would have so greatly minded needles and Madam Pomfrey.
Harry looked up to see Willard Crump staring sadly at the book. Harry was about to say something comforting to the disappointed wizard when Crump picked up the slab of a book and stuffed it into his pocket. He pulled a much smaller volume from that same pocket. Smaller yes, normal sized, no. Only two feet on a side, this one didn't look nearly as daunting.
[Don't be disappointed,[ Crump sighed. [The odds were never in your favor, I fear. Well, just for the sake of thoroughness, take a look through this one. It's an index of known magical creatures. There have only been two recorded cases of animagi forms possessing innate magical abilities, maybe you'll be the third.[ From Crump's tone, Harry doubted this tome would yield anything more than the first one had. Still, this had gotten him out of the day's remaining classes, so he might as well see it through to the end.
****
Harry was cringing away from the sight of a coiled basilisk and hurriedly turning the page when Crump let out a whoop of joy and leapt from his chair. The wizard did a little dance that made him look even more ridiculous in his green spotted black robes. [We found it, boy?[ He crowed triumphantly. [What creatures are on that last page?[
Harry all of a sudden felt as though he had been doused with ice water. It felt like a lead weight had been dropped on his chest and he was having great trouble drawing breath. There had to be a mistake, some fault in Crump's spell. Harry could hear his blood pounding in his ears, throbbing in his temples. A basilisk! Maybe Crump had really detected the affinity with the barking mole. Harry prayed for that with every fiber of his being while his numb hand turned the page back without his direction.
Crump was standing over him now, and the whoop of success at the discovery of another animagi died on his lips when he saw what rested on the page. The snake was to scale with all the other creatures in the book, and thus had its own page, where most of the others were squeezed in with several others. As Crump watched, the basilisk shifted its massive body, revealing the half crushed skeleton of what was obviously a human resting beneath it.
Crump's, [Oh shit,] summed up what Harry was feeling rather well.
****
Courtesy of a powerful sleeping draught, Harry was more or less in a coma. Madam Pomfrey thought it best for now, until someone could figure out how to talk to the boy and deal with any shock he may be experiencing. Willard Crump was pacing the infirmary nervously when Albus Dumbledore, accompanied by Minerva McGonagall swept into the room. They were followed closely by Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, and Lenora Garland, a skilled witch who also had the ability to assume the form of a rabbit at will. Crump had seen Lenora in her animal form more than once, and he had yet to see a natural rabbit that was even half the size of Lenora.
[I fail to see what all the fuss is about,[ Dumbledore said after a quick visual examination of Harry's sleeping form. He patted Harry's limp hand affectionately and turned back to face the others.
[Fuss?![ the Minister all but sputtered. [For heaven's sake, man, a basilisk! What kind of form is that?! Do you have any idea how people will react to that type of information?[ Fudge was on his way to going red in the face.
Dumbledore met the other man's wild gaze calmly. [A basilisk is a very powerful, immensely magical creature able to ignore or shrug off most forms of magic. It also has a deadly stare and a poisonous bite that only the tears of a phoenix can fully counteract. All in all, if Harry eventually learns to assume the form of a fully mature basilisk, I for one will sleep much better at night knowing he has one more weapon with which to defend himself.[
[If standard size constraints remain true to form, Potter will be nothing more than a large snake,[ Professor McGonagall stated firmly. [Even when Harry finishes puberty and is fully grown, he won't be a large man. A mature basilisk would outweigh Harry by several dozen times, and only when the creature is fully mature does it manifest any powers whatsoever.[ Dumbledore smiled at McGonagall in appreciation.
[All valid points,[ Fudge snapped,[but think of the press...[
****
It took a stern talking to by Dumbledore and a visit from Sirius to convince Harry that it was in his own best interests to go ahead with Crump and attempt to learn to become a basilisk. Harry had pretty much decided that Destiny didn't particularly like him and that Fate positively despised him. Days passed by in a blur. So what if he could now apparate with ease or produce a Stunning spell so powerful that it was now lethal? What good was all of this if his friends all ended up thinking of him as a monster? It had been bad enough after Rita Skeeter had published her article the previous summer. That had only made him look insane.
People had believed her, amazingly, and many had treated Harry like a rabid animal after that, trying to keep their distance in the event that he went crazy and turned them all into mice. Harry couldn't even imagine how people would treat him if they ever found out that he may eventually be able to turn into a basilisk. He couldn't even picture how Ron or Hermione would react, and they were his best friends.
Crump had gotten over the initial shock of Harry's potential form and was going about teaching his pupil the ins and outs of animagi transformation. He'd demonstrated his own transformation into a goat a number of times, but insisted that Harry was so far away from even beginning to actually change that demonstrations were largely pointless.
Advanced transfiguration wouldn't normally be taught until Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts. Crump had accellerated the curricullum, partially anyway. Daily, Harry practiced changing small, simple objects into snakes of as large a size as he could manage. He supposed it was to help him reach a larger size, possibly even a fully grown form, where he could use the powers of a basilisk.
****
[Some wizards like to think of this as Dark magic,[ an auror named Bob said,[because it involves the use of blood. Some wizards can barely buckle their own boots, though, so I don't pay much attention to foolish talk. You've got your wands?[
Harry nodded, looking down at his old wand and the new one Mr. Olliavandre had sent. The newer one wouldn't respond quite as well as Harry's old one, not until the old one was destroyed, but the wizard who would assist him in the upcoming ritual insisted that he have two.
[Good. Now, Mr. Potter, let me explain why you bought a new wand and had Madam Pomfrey drain a pint of your blood.[ Bob rolled up the baggy sleeve of his burgundy robe and gestured to the leather sheath that housed to wands. He drew one of them and negligently threw it across the room. Harry turned to follow its course, but stopped when he saw the wand fly back past him and into Bob's hand. [Old auror trick. Mighty hard to disarm a fellow if his wand keeps coming back to him, don't you think?[ He grinned and Harry couldn't help but grin back.
[Okay, that's the first facet of the charm, here's the other.[ Bob laid the wand on the top of his cleared desk. [Go on, pick it up.[
Harry followed the wizard's command and reached over to retrieve the wand. An inch from his finger tips, red sparks shot from the wand and connected with Harry's hand. He yelped, cradling his tingling hand.
[Sorry about that. Weak as I could make it. If you don't wish someone to touch your wand, you can command it to release up to a full powered Stunning spell into them. The choice is yours. Do you wish to go through with the ritual?[
[Yeah, I guess,[ Harry answered. With his affirmation, Bob waved his wand and the window went dark, plunging the room into almost total darkness relieved only by the glow eminating from a large glass bottle containing a heavily enchanted pint of Harry's blood.
****
Author's Notes - This chapter is a little short. Uh, I'm kinda skipping forward in chunks for now, and will probably continue to do so for a while if I continue this. About Harry being an animagi, I didn't know that there were so many HP fics where he ends up as one. I'd only read a few HP fics when I started this and since I'm not going to change my plans because of other fics, I stuck with this. I just want to clear some stuff up real quick about Harry in this fic. In the last few days I've read too many fics where Harry all of a sudden gains phenomenal powers and knowledge or becomes an animagi in about ten minutes or has a total change in character without any explanation. I'm going to try to avoid that in this fic. Harry is going to be a powerful wizard, very powerful actually, but he's still inexperienced and not really able to throw his weight around magically all that much. One question, well two really. I'm not at all familiar with the HP fandom, so it came as a shock to me when I saw so many yaoi Harry/Draco and Snape/Harry/whoever pairings, as well as the Draco/Ginny and Draco/Hermione pairings. How in hell does anyone manage to come up with those? I just don't see it. In Ranma it's conceivable that other characters can be matched up with each other despite canon. They all have at least a few redeeming qualities, even if most of them do suffer from at least one dangerous mental condition. But Snape and Draco? You girls are smoking some serious shit. Okay, now I'm going to hide so that hordes of furious fangirls don't murder me.